Clean record
The people with the cleanest records stayed near the edges.
They kept things tidy and safe.
Never made the big swing.
Never said the thing that might come back.
You can't get a call wrong from a safe distance.
Can't misread a room you stayed outside of.
The record stays clean when the stakes stay low.
Errors are a trail. Every one marks a place you actually went.
Every mistake you avoided is also a moment you weren't in.
A clean record is its own kind of loss.
A spotless track record sounds impressive. Until you ask what it cost. Mistakes are evidence of presence, not failure.
